Share This Story!

Gerold Berger, 30, of New City, went to Rose Avenue in Spring Valley to buy drugs on Sept. 11, 1998, and ended up dead behind the wheel of his gray 1991 Thunderbird with multiple bullet wounds into his head.

Gerold Berger went to Rose Avenue in Spring Valley to buy drugs on Sept. 11, 1998, and ended up dead behind the wheel of his car with multiple bullet wounds in his head.

A resident found the 30-year-old New City man leaning face first across the steering wheel of his gray 1991 Thunderbird, the engine still humming. The car faced the rear of the parking lot of the two-story red brick building at 23 Rose Ave. in the Hill section of the Ramapo village.

Police believe Berger was killed for ripping off at least one drug dealer and his associates by paying them with counterfeit money.

Rockland Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Zugibe found Berger died from three shots to his skull at close range from a .380-caliber handgun and a severed spinal cord. A fourth bullet ended up lodged inside the car body.

Berger had a criminal history that included drug possession.

The Spring Valley police investigation determined Berger's killing was drug-related. It came during a violent crack-cocaine epidemic in the village, Detective Robert Bookstein said.

Berger became the third man killed in 1998 in the village in drug-related violence. Village police made more than 50 drug arrests by September 1998 as they fought back against drug gangs.

The investigation

Gunshots were heard about 5:45 to 6 a.m. that summer morning, startling residents in the residential neighborhood of apartments and some private homes.

Police were called at 7:24 a.m. by a resident who found the body in the driveway behind the building.

The investigation focused on several people known to be either drug dealers or drug addicts, said Bookstein, who spearheaded the investigation with Detectives Don Pfeil and Reginald Anderson.

The detectives found a "strong person of interest" early on in the case, Bookstein said.

Ballistics provided the caliber of the weapon. The medical examiner provided the cause of death and estimated the gun was fired from less than 22 inches away.

State police divers searched a lake for the gun and people were given polygraph exams.

Gerold Berger of New City was found shot through the head in September 1998. Spring Valley Det. Robert Bookstein suspects a drug deal invovling counterfeit money as the motivating factor. ( Video by Ricky Flores / The Journal News )

Bookstein said people involved or who had knowledge of the killing were not forthcoming or provided false information, stalling the investigation.

"After many interviews with local people both in and out of the drug community, no eyewitnesses were ever located, even though it is believed that there are witnesses to this crime or discussions about this crime," Bookstein said. "We believe the person of interest is responsible for the murder."

Nagging open case

Bookstein, born and raised in Spring Valley before joining the department in 1981 and becoming a detective in 1993, said all leads have been exhausted and nothing new has been developed.

While frustrated, he holds out hope someone will step forward.

"There is at least one person out there that witnessed the homicide," Bookstein said, "and holds the key to solving it."

Anyone with information on the Berger homicide can call the Spring Valley Police Department at 845-356-7400. They can ask for Detective Robert Bookstein or any detective.